Hollow metal door.



A. J. ELLIS & c. BQNELLISI HOLLOW METAL DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1910.

Patented Sept. 24,1912.

2 SHEETS-3HEET 1 A. J. ELLIS & C. E. NELLIS. HOLLOW METAL DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27,1910.

Patented, Sept. 24, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

U'Nrirnn STATES PATENT onn en.

ALFRED II. ELLIS, OE WOODCLIFF-ON-HUDSON. JERSEY. AND CHARLES E. NELLIS, OF NEXV YORK, N. '35, ASSIGNORS TO A. J. ELLIS, INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HOLLOW METAL DOOR.

1,03. ,xrn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Application filed August 27, 1910. Serial No. 579,219.

To 11 iii/mm it may ant m Be it htmWll that we. Anni-1n J. ELLIS and CHARLES l). NiiLms, citizens of the l'nited States, i'csi 'liligl. respertirely, at \Yumlclitt' tltdltltlr Uli, lHWlhlill) t .Nnrth Bergen. in the county 01. llndecn and State (it New Jerey. and in the city at New Yiirh. l'mrmigh at lhiinldyn. State of New York have invented certain new and metal lltllilOYtlliQl'ilH in llnllnw Metal Doors. of which the tut inn in; is a tall. Clear. and exact descriptinn.

'lhih invention rela es to hollow iiiclal deer. and has for it'snh ieci' the pinrninn ti" lniprm'ed means l'er uniting the w t-rat par employed in the cm trn tinn nl' t tltll'r. ni' thi charm-tea melt inc-am eing charaw terizetl by extremiirnplirit'v (it rnnsti'actinn. compact lurnn and by the tart'that it a tint-it. great rigidity h theeinl led parts.

r 4 l the cemtruclinn 1n qneatinn 1s sueh that the securing devices Ina be made nt :nibstair tiall \iniinrin ize in so tar as the (firms ecctinn thereof is concerned for various sine. ni' dnnrs. i'emllting in a greatl i decreased 11M nt (tilbitl'tit'liUtL A t'nrt' cr e jcet ,nt' hill im'cntinn i the prntieicn (it a nmcl t nt-in (it melding chara terized bv extreme \iinplieity nt c nstrlwtinn and adapted to clliciently rctaingrhvs pant-l: er the like llJ pmitinn in a dunr. nrh nmliling viiilp ratingr ith the ether pait nl' nin' ii iprnved ilwrr ,cunstriiegien tn the end that an inexpemiitte. cxtai'hnelt biinple and \cry rigid lire'pinut' deer i, the result.

)lii l' feature: (it nilrinrentinn will be licreiinit'ter min-e particularly painted nut and wt fnrth in the appended claiinht.

Referring now tn the acennipanying drawii ewhi h i 'l'lH a part hereof and in which like reference haracters de ignate like parts thrnnghnnt the several \'i Figure l i.- an eleratinn of our innnoved dour hnwing; the 1l|llt in pox-iticn in a frame nt' iniitable (t l! ;tl'll('ll(lll. Fig. '1 is a vertical srctinn ui' our dear taken on line ll--ll at Fig. l, Fi I is a transverse -:.ecti0n taken en the liiie lll lll mi Fig); '2. F ll -l i u \lllllltll f tlllUll lzllittl on lines lV l. 1 f Fig, Fig. "i a fragment ut he corner nt' nnr rlner drawn in a seinewhat larger seale. hi4.

t) i\ rainverw ectinn taken .11 the line in a traneveise \"l -\'l at Fig. 5. Fig. T Hwttilt similar tn that slim inhaling: nig

farm to aeeonnnrdate a panel of larger di- Il'lellalOIlS.

Referring new to the said drawings. and Hintl parti alarlv to Fig. 1. wherein the tih lHtYt been designated 1, the upper rail L, the n'ritlille rail 3 and bottom rail 4, it will he td HiVPtl that the door has substantially the general outward appearance of doors of the i 'I'nl cnnstruetion; but referring to Fig. 3, is Will be seen that each stile is composed nt a bent sheet 0i metal 5, Fnb tantially U- hapc t in ems section, the inner edges of which are fi hletl over and then bent at. right angles it the plane of Stlt'l). fold and there at'ier again folded in such manner as to protitle nn each side of the stile a plurality (if ere-med flang s. :neh flanges being; prefer- :ibh' snlmantially normal to each other. ".ll' ralle alsn involve much the ean'ie cen- Stlltt'tlt li. except that we prefer to form the lateral plates therenf separate and distinct t'rnin ea h ether nixtead of bending a single plate into the U-shaped tnrni employed in the cnnstriictinn (if the etilea. This however is nbrinusly merely a matter of detail. The feature of prin ipal in'ipnrt'ance in the rails, as in the tile i the peculiar arrangement of rece ed nr gfrom'ed flanges: the size and \hapt- (it such flanges in both the rails and stilt-:5 being preferably identical. no that but few rolls m presqu need he ein 'ilnyed in the inanntactin'c m" the parts (it our deer.

Qnnsidering nnw the part3 (it the cone pmintl llangw in detail, the metal or other material nt' which the side (if the stile. or rail is cninpueed. is preferably fnlded back upnn itnelf as; at t3: lllll the laterally dispneed web T formed by the se t'elded material is spaced frnni the body 01' the member to provide :1.

hltnwn as being bent or folded back ever the ll hllih thereof to form reee interim-l directed flanges, previemly described but substantially 1101 inal therelm The folded edges of these flange: have been designated 14) and the tfiu fl z i=1) ftZ-llllttl 11.

.d or grooved, sllllllzll to these Considering now the stiles more particularly, we preter to close the interior open sides thi'reo't' by sliil'ening channels 12. The e channels 12 are formed by flanging up the edges of a plate, and the width of such flanges is preferably just suflicient, to snugly [ill the deep grooves 8 above referred to, a chann l 12 being slid endwise down into the interior at the stile in such manner that the r-2lltl flanges engage with the said grooves. The bottom of the channel is in cross section is formed of two plates 14,;

' the extremities of which each inwardly;

directed and bent somewhat Z-shaped inrross section. The outermost leg 15 ofthe 2 forms the flange or tongue above referred, to which is adapted to neatly tit into one of; the grooves 11; the web 16 of the Z being otlset from the face of the rail by an amount substantially equal to the distance from the inner face of the web 7 to the outer face of the stile; and the upper leg 17 of the 2,. which is relatively short, is preferably of; just sutiieient size to bring the face of the rail out flush with the outer face of the stile; when the flange 15 is in position in its corre-g sponding groove. The. longitudinal edges; of the plates 14 are crimped or folded to form compound recessed flanges of the shape; and dimensions described at length above; and as the same characters have been used throughout to designate the several elements of these locking parts, it will suflicc to say that our object in so forming the respective; rails and stiles has been to provide homo-, geneous locking devices throughout the? structure, which greatly simplifies the 00115 struction and reduces the cost of production:

The remaining parts of the door can best be described while considering the manner of assembling the same.

The bottom of the bottom ;.lail is formed by inserting a channel 18 between the respective railplates 14 so that the outer edgesv of the flanges of this channel engage the channel grooves 8 of said plates. A second. channel 19 is then applied to the bottom face of the bottom rail to close the aperture between the compound flanges, the flanges snugly bearing against the inner walls of the lateral webs 7 of said plates. The lower channel 19 is provided with a series of countersunk holesprovided for thereception of the heads of a series of screws or bolts 20, and the inner or upper channel is correspondingly tapped for engagement with the said bolts so that the channels 18 and 19 may be drawn toward each other to thereby, in eflect, firmly clamp the lower edges of the bottom rail plates therebetween. A channel 21 is disposed for engagement with the upper channel grooves 8 of the rail )lates, so that the construction of this portion of the bottom rail is substantially identical to that of the corresponding portion of each of the stiles. The lower portions of the end flanges 15 of the assembled bottom rail having been inserted into the upper ends of the stiles, thereby spacing them properly apart,

a bottom molding '22 formed of bent sheet metal is fitted to the upper grooved flanges of the rail, the inwardly directed flanges 23 of said molding engaging the grooves 11, and the depending sides of the molding, above flanges 23, engaging the inner walls of webs 7 of the rail plates. The molding issuitably fluted and 1s rabbeted at 24 for the reception of'a suitable panel 25. This panel may consist of an asbestos body faced with metal, wood, or other suitable substance. The bottom molding having been securediin position the corresponding side moldings 26 are slipped down into engagement with the stiles. The side moldings 26 are of substantially the same cross section as the bottom molding '22, being provided with inwardly directed flanges 23 which are adapted for engagement with the stile grooves 11 in-the same manner inwhich the rail flanges 15 also engage these same grooves. It may be here observed that the molding is by reason'pf this construction verysecurely locked to the stiles. I

The panel 25 is next inserted into the rabbets 124 of the side and bottom moldings and the top molding 27'isset in place, its flanges 23 being thereafter engaged with the grooves 11 of the middle rail, the respective side plates of the middle rail being substantially identical with those of the bottom rail,

and being slipped laterally into position and engagement with the molding section.

The molding sections and panel may also be suitably secured together to form a unitary structure before being placed in osition, if desired; but the upper panel of t e door being of lass, it is desirable that the same should e inserted into the door after-the door has been ppsitioned in its frame. With this end inview the molding around the up per panel is constructed somewhat differ-- ently from that around the lower panel. In

thiscase the respective side, top and bottom members are each constructed in two parts; those shown to the right inFig. 2 forming the n-ain sections and being adapted'forinsertion into their places in much the same fashion as the lower moldings, having correspondingly en aging flanges 23', and these members, as in t e/lov/er panehmay or may the respective parts whereby'the welded portions might be disrupted one from the other, the door would still hold firmly together and retain its fireproof character by reason of the peculiar interlocking construction employed throughout.

A door constructed in accordance with the principles of our invention is relatively light in weight by reason of the box like character of the stiles and rails and by reason of the interlocking flanges, the engaging parts having a plurality of angularly disposed surfaces in engagement at each locking point. The hollow horizontal members are interlocked against vertical displacement; vxhile the box like stiles interlock therewith to prevent lateral displacement of the parts; and the welding in turn sci-\es to secure the stiles against vertical (lis 'ilacement, the assembled door presentng a rigid, unitary and fireproof structure.

Finally owing to the fact that the inte riorly directed flanges are set back or inset into the stiles and rails from tbe edges 6 thereof while the flanks 'or sides of the projecting flanges are substantially coincident with the sides of the stiles and rails, and are thus 'within the proper overall width thereof it becomes possible, when desired, to employ panels of substantially the exact dimensions of the opening between the stiles and rails. The width of the panel 25 in this case being, as shown in Fig. 7, equal to A, the distance between the stiles, and the height obviously being the corresponding distance between rails. Thus it becomes possible, by using our novel ,flange locking arrangement, to make a door in which the stiles and rails may be of specified standard width and the panels of specified standard dimensions, which is particularly desirable, since large concerns will frequently insist upon having the stiles of all. of their doors of uniform and standard dimensions, and since the panels, particularly when of glass are frequently necessarily furnished by the manufacturers thereof, in standard sizes. This feature is only possible by reason of the insetting of the rail and molding en-' gaging flanges, and We therefore regard such feature as of particular importance.

Having described our invention, what We claim, is:

1. In a metal door, metal boxes forming the stiles and rails of said door, each of the stile-forming boxes having a pair of'anigularly disposed flanges at the inner edge of each of the sides thereof, each of said flanges having a groove therein, the respective grooves in a pair of flanges opening in two different directions, flanged stiffening members in said stiles, the r spective flanges of said members being adapted for interlocking engagement with grmives of said stile flanges which open in a common direction, the rails of said door also having flanges at the ends thereof, said last mentioned flanges being adapted for interlocking engagement with the grooves in the stile flanges which open in other directions than that last mentioned.

2. In a metal door, metal boxes forming the stilies and rails of said door, each of the stile-forming boxes having a pair of angu larly disposed flanges at the inner edge of each of the sides thereof, one flange of each pair extending substantially in parallelism with the sides of the stile and the other flange of each pair bein disposed substantial] perpendicular to t e general lane of the our and extending into the bod of the stile, said inwardly extending flanges being grooved, and the rails having flanges at the ends thereof adapted to enter said grooves to interlock said stiles and rails.

3. In a sheet metal structure, in combination, a sheet metal part having a portion thereof adjacent its edge folded back substantially into parallelism with t-l1egeneral surface of the part, the folded over portion having a substantially ninety degree bend adjacent the folding inc and the material between said bend and the edge of said part being further folded back upon itself to form a recessed flange, such flange extending out laterally from the body of the part the extreme edge of the art being spaced rom thelast mentioned olded portion to form together with the recess in the flange aforesaid an L-shaped groove, and a cooperating part having an L-shaped flange adapted to enter said roove.

4. In a sleet metal structure in combination, a sheet metal part ha vin aportion thereof adjacent its edge folde back upon itself, the folded portion having a substantially ninety degree bend adjacent the folding line, and the material between said bend and the edge of the part being further folded back upon itself to form a recessed flange, such flange extending out laterally from the body of the part and stiffening the same, the extreme edge of the part being spaced from the last mentioned folded portion to form together with the recess in the flange aforesaid an L-shaped groove, :1 cooperating part having an L-shaped flange adapted to enter said groove, and a stiffening member having flanges adapted to enter between the walls of the first mentioned fold.

5. In a sheet metal structure, in combination, a sheet metal part havin a portion thereof adjacent its edge folde back substantially into parallelism with the general surface of the part, the folded over portion having a substantially ninety degree bend adjacent the folding line and the material between said bend and the edge of said part being further folded back upon itser' to 

